VIDEO: Obama pushes for GOP support on immigration reform

Obama tried to carve out middle ground on immigration reform in a speech at American University’s School of International Service Thursday. Light on specific policy recommendations, the President rejected appeals for blanket amnesty for undocumented immigrants in the country while also emphasizing the need to amend the path to citizenship. He did embrace the DREAM Act, proposed legislation to ease legal immigration for students.

He also laid the blame for the country’s lack of effective legislation on the issue squarely at the feet of Republicans. The White House, the public and the majority of Democrats want reform, he said, but Republican legislators have failed to come forward.

“Ultimately our nation has the right and obligation to control its borders and set laws for residency and citizenship,” he said. “No matter how decent they are … the 11 million people who broke these laws should be held accountable.”

Businesses that employ and exploit undocumented immigrants should be penalized, he said.

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The Colorado Independent has been amplifying the voices of vulnerable Coloradans and holding public officials to account since 2013. Starting in the fall of 2020, we will be teaming up with the Colorado Press Association and Colorado Media Project as part of COLab, an incubator for journalists to collaborate at a time when news resources are scarce. Our primary role will be to work one-on-one with journalists in newsrooms statewide to help them report challenging stories they couldn’t cover alone.

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OUR MISSION

The Colorado Independent has been amplifying the voices of vulnerable Coloradans and holding public officials to account since 2013. Starting in the fall of 2020, we will be teaming up with the Colorado Press Association and Colorado Media Project as part of COLab, an incubator for journalists to collaborate at a time when news resources are scarce. Our primary role will be to work one-on-one with journalists in newsrooms statewide to help them report challenging stories they couldn’t cover alone.